Fall - Winter 2006

ART WORKERS in RESIDENCE at NIFCA in HELSINKI


NIFCA, Nordic Institute for Contemporary Art is honored to host in residence at Suomenlinna in Helsinki:


* Helmut Batista, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2 October-November)
* Malak Helmy, Cairo, Egypt (18 October-November)
* Eva Linder, Gothenburg, Sweden (August-October)
* Kami Petersen, Malmö, Sweden (1-21 August + 1-7 November)
* The Salford Restoration Office, Salford, UK (24 November-7 October)
* San Minn, Yangon, Myanmar (29 September-3 December)
* Alejandra Urresti, Buenos Aires, Argentina (11 September-11 November)
* Kim West, Stockholm, Sweden (27 September-31 October)




Helmut Batista (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Research Residency at NIFCA (2 October-November)

I run a non profit production space named CAPACETE entretenimentos in the city of Rio de Janeiro since 1998. Since the creation of CAPACETE, we have overcome several different stages in the way we produce and show our projects. Today we are focused on residency programs, fixed and mobile ones and the production of new works in Brazil and South America. The purpose of CAPACETE entertainments is to exhibit and produce previously unseen conceptual and contextual works, comprising of a variety of artistic strategies. CAPACETE entertainments documents its activities and serves as a starting point for the self-representation of a group of national and international artists. Capacete’s activeties is part of a long term interdisciplinary presence in Rio de Janeiro, which aims to research and document aesthetic, social and political processes in Brazil. The historic, urban, topographic, environmental and social context of Rio de Janeiro is an important laboratory that (re)actualises Brazilian complexities. Rio de Janeiro is a strategic tool to identify, articulate and give visibility to these processes, reaching very heterogeneous audiences.

My interest in the NIFCA residency is to meet artists and organizations that would possibly work on a exchange program in Rio de Janeiro / Brazil.
www.capacete.net

Guest Room Heikki
E-mail: capacete ( ) capacete.net


Malak Helmy (Cairo, Egypt)
In residence at NIFCA through the Global Perspectives residency exchange program in collaboration with The Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Egypt (18 October-November)

Through painting and other media, Malak Helmy explores the use of narrative imagery to position oneself within a social or geographical context. Using herself or the other as the subject of focus, interactions between self-portrayal and the public eye are captured, reworked and re-contextualized, creating new dynamics between the individual and the environment. She is also currently directing and co-producing audio walks around different areas of Cairo, exploring architecture, history and culture.

Studio Elias, tel. +358 (0)9 668 411
E-mail: malak.helmy ( ) gmail.com


Eva Linder (Gothenburg, Sweden)
Artist-in-residence at NIFCA through the Nordic AiR program (August-October)

I work in a documentary video tradition, often including portraits of extraordinary people who have made a difference in their specific world. Personal storytelling is also a way to discuss current changes in society. During my residency I’ll be working on a project about the deep woods of Sweden that were populated by Finnish farmers in the 16th and 17th centuries. The king at the time wanted the whole country to be inhabited, and by moving thousands of farmers from Karelia (eastern part of Finland) to these areas (still referred to as Finnmarken, the Finnish area), he managed to do so. It was also a way to get more tax money out of the farmers. When arriving to Sweden the Finns were given Swedish names and told to stay in the woods far from the Swedish villages. Today there is a vivid movement concerned with finding information about these Finns. Some say one fifth of the Swedish population originates from these Finns. In Norway the Forest Finns are considered an official national minority (together with the Sámis, Romanis and Kväns). For the last four years I've been running Yeans Artspace, a non-profit gallery/microcinema in Gothenburg, together with Lars Nilsson: www.yeans.org

www.evalinder.com

Studio Augustin, tel. +358 (0)9 668 355
evalinder ( ) mail.com


Kami Petersen (Malmö, Sweden)
In residence through NIFCA’s residency program Social Perspectives on Architecture and Design (1-21 August + 1-7 November)

Kami Petersen is a freelance jack-of-all-trades within a broader creative field, including professional design, artistic conceptualism and interdisciplinary education. Recent interests and practice are in the ethics of the design profession and the organization of creative networks. Design is a power tool for planning and social change, and by integrating design practices into a strategic framework its potential can no longer be limited by its preconception. In-between professional commissions, he teaches at Malmö University in Sweden and actively participate in the efforts of Muungano, a design group.

During the residency he will explore the social and organisational foundations of creative networks in terms of idealism and profitability, and try to apply the conclusions to a test case project for Muungano, The Suburban Cook Book.

Guest Room Sergei
E-mail: kami ( ) muungano.com


The Salford Restoration Office
Research Residency at NIFCA (27 September-31 October)

The Salford Restoration Office is a new curatorial and programming agency based in Salford, UK; initiating, producing and commissioning seemingly anomalous art projects in a manner appropriate to its location in the North West of England, the context of the local art community and scene, and the demands of the active cultural bodies. It is intended to act as a catalyst in Salford, Manchester and North West England; to motivate, empower and connect the artistic community; to ‘refine’ a number of regional institutions; and to develop connections between the artists and institutions in the region to international networks and circuits.

Two weeks of research at NIFCA and within Helsinki will allow us to amalgamate our very different personal experiences within an environment that has inspired many aspects of The Salford Restoration Office. We wish, and intend, to gain first hand knowledge of Helsinki’s (and the Nordic region’s) artistic scene, with an ambition to integrate aspects of both its practicalities and its dynamics within The Salford Restoration Office’s immanent manifestation.

Our interest in local administrative frameworks set up to control the production of art within individual cities or regions make this a pertinent time to visit NIFCA. The closure of the institution represents a significant shift in Nordic cultural policy, and we hope to gain a greater insight into the issues which have precipitated this shift.

James Hutchinson and Lesley Young

Guest Room Nina
James Hutchinson, e-mail: james ( ) goodhut.plus.com
Lesley Young, e-mail: lesleyyoung2004 ( ) yahoo.co.uk


San Minn (Yangon, Myanmar)
In residence at NIFCA through the Global Perspectives residency exchange program in collaboration with NICA, Yangon, Myanmar (29 September-3 December)

Born in 1951, Myanmar, San Min studied under Artists U Nyunt Tin, U Ba Lon Lay, U Thu Kha, U Lun Gywe and U Nann Waii. San Min is one of the founders of the Gangaw Village Artist Group and the Inya Gallery of Art. He has participated in more than 70 group shows in Yangon, Mandalay, Myanmar. Selected Exhibitions: One man shows - 1980, 1984, 1991, 1993, 2001 in Yangon, Myanmar. Group shows in foreign countries such as in - Japan (1995), Singapore (1996), London (1999), Germany (1999), Malaysia (1999), Finland (2001), Thailand (2001), Singapore (2003) and Bangladesh (2003). San Min's interests lie in exploring Modern Art, such as Surrealist Painting and Installations.

Studio Johan Tobias, tel. (+358 9) 668 255


Alejandra Urresti (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
In residence at NIFCA through the Global Perspectives residency exchange program in collaboration with El Basilisco, Buenos Aires, Argentina (11 September-11 November)

I studied architecture for a couple of years and then my interest shifted to Photography. That is why architecture, even in the most simple way is a central focus in my work: from spaces thought as recreational areas, buildings that nestle art work, to the shallow edge of recyclable architecture that the cultural industry launches in a constant image flow.

In June I was in Cuba, and for a month, I traveled through La Habana with a big format camera. That is how I started seeing in a complete different way as when I take pictures with any other tool. My eye does not wonder as it does with a digital camera, it is more precise, more accurate. There is a correlation between the body and the will. I take my time to look. I shoot with the body. My idea is to keep investigating and experimenting with this camera during my stay in Finland.

Studo Carl August, tel. +358 (0)9 668 356
E-mail: aleurresti ( ) hotmail.com


Kim West (Stockholm, Sweden)
Research Residency at NIFCA (27 September-31 October)

Kim West is a freelance critic and translator. He is an editor for the magazines SITE and UNION and for the SITE Editions book series [www.sitemagazine.net]. Recent projects include translations into Swedish of the French philosopher Jacques Rancière and catalogue texts on Thomas Broomé and Esther Shalev-Gerz. Current projects include completing an anthology with selected essays and articles by the writer Jean Genet in Swedish translation, various other translations and texts, various teaching assignments at Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm and research for future publications.

Studio Emanuel, tel. +358 (0)9 668 433
E-mail: kim ( ) sitemagazine.net


Address for studios and guest rooms: Suomenlinna B 44, 00190 Helsinki, Finland
Address for Studio Flat B 28: Suomenlinna B 28, 00190 Helsinki, Finland

For more information please see:
http://www.nifca.org/2006/residencies/AiRatNIFCA.html

For further information please contact also the art workers directly or project coordinator Mitro Kaurinkoski at NIFCA.